Hi All,
   Many decades ago I visited a remote lake (Dean Chapter I think)
which had become part of a water system for power generation and by good
fortune the water was low so I could see clearly root grafts between
Spruce trees. The roots of every tree were connected to several other
Spruce trees. Root grafting of forest trees has been common knowledge
since erosion or soil slumping has revealed the evidence. But I doubt
very much that root grafting takes place between trees of different
species other than a thin dubious link with microrhizal fungi as the
connection. And the sequence usually is along the following lines-- some
plant root, often but not always woody, pioneers a root channel. When
that root dies and rots a passageway is left for some subsequent root
and when two roots of the same species meet in this tunnel their root
tissues will usually fuse.
   True root grafting is most frequent in soils with compact subsoils
where pioneering a new channel is difficult. But setting that aside, for
trees such as Hemlock which form dense stands with sparse sunlight
reaching the forest floor root grafting is vital because seedlings, the
next generation, depend on root grafts to survive until some nearby
large tree dies and sunlight reaches that dependent. Thus the stump of a
small Hemlock, cut e.g. to enable a survey, will continue to grow in
diameter each year if adjacent large trees are not cut.
Dave Kentville
On 5/2/2021 10:39 AM, N Robinson wrote:
An important book will be published Tuesday:Â Suzanne
Simard from UBC
is the author of /Finding the Mother Tree/. She has studied the
interconnectedness of trees, how they help each other through the
underground fungal network, and the importance not only of DIVERSITY,
but of the MOTHER TREE, hence backing up our pleas to retain old
growth and especially older trees, with scientific evidence.
Dr. Simard was interviewed on /Quirks and Quarks/ yesterday.
Of course this research has been around for a while and nothing has
changed. Perhaps this book will make a difference if we "propagate" it.
There is a good article here:
https://www.the-scientist.com/reading-frames/book-excerpt-from-finding-the-…
<https://www.the-scientist.com/reading-frames/book-excerpt-from-finding-the-mother-tree-68727>
Excerpt:
".... The trees soon revealed startling secrets. I discovered that
they are in a web of interdependence, linked by a system of
underground channels, where they perceive and connect and relate with
an ancient intricacy and wisdom that can no longer be denied. I
conducted hundreds of experiments, with one discovery leading to the
next, and through this quest I uncovered the lessons of tree-to-tree
communication, of the relationships that create a forest society. The
evidence was at first highly controversial, but the science is now
known to be rigorous, peer-reviewed, and widely published. It is no
fairy tale, no flight of fancy, no magical unicorn, and no fiction in
a Hollywood movie. "
I have ordered my copy! Paperback will be out in June.
Nancy
On Sun, May 2, 2021 at 8:57 AM Mary Macaulay <marymacaulay(a)hotmail.com
<mailto:marymacaulay@hotmail.com>> wrote:
I have been visiting as many sites as I can on the "harvest" Â map
before comments close (locked down now unfortunately). The most
recent had a humongous healthy Old Growth beech on it and lots of
smaller ones. It is scheduled to be clearcut (10% retention). I
have been told time and again by L&F and conservation officials
that there is no interest in beech conservation when I draw
extremely rare healthy beech in condemned stands to their attention.
With kindest regards
Mary
On May 2, 2021, at 8:48 AM, Peter Payzant
<peter(a)payzant.net
<mailto:peter@payzant.net>> wrote:
 To clarify, I was wondering if there was any point in trying to
re-establish Beech here once the existing ones are gone. When
would it be worth the effort, if ever?
It seems that the National Tree Seed Centre is not well-stocked
with American Beech seed, by the way.
--- Peter Payzant
On 2021-05-01 4:37 PM, John and Nhung wrote:
I wonder if the National Tree Seed Centre in Fredericton
(
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-data/research-centres-labs/forestry-researc…
<https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science-data/research-centres-labs/forestry-research-centres/atlantic-forestry-centre/national-tree-seed-centre/13449>)
could help. A couple of years ago, I was in touch re. Hemlocks
(threatened by the adelgid) and black ash (Thought I’d hit a lot
of them down here in God’s country, but they turned out to be a
European species!).
Donnie McPhee (donnie.mcphee(a)canada.ca
<mailto:donnie.mcphee@canada.ca>) is the go-to guy and can
probably identify go-to people in N.S.
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